The festival will feature guided covered bridge tours, an art show, food booths, craft vendors, a beer garden, a quilt show, a catapult-powered pumpkin-tossing contest, kids activities, bike rides and a variety of live music performances, from country and blues to soft rock and jazz.

Festival events will take place at Bohemia Park, at 10th and East Main Streets, as well as the Cottage Grove Armory, located at 628 W. Washington Ave. Admission to the festival is free.

Guided covered bridge bus tours of Cottage Grove's six bridges will take place on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. The Eugene, Cascades & Coast Kids Adventure Club will host free activities and learning opportunities about the area's covered bridges. Kids can make miniature replicas of historic covered bridges and enjoy other bridge-themed arts and crafts.The Kiwanis Club of Cottage Grove will host a steak dinner on-site on Friday and the American Legion will host a dinner on Saturday night. Servers will be dressed in period costumes.

The 4th Annual Cycle the Lakes Bike Ride will coincide with the festival on Saturday, Sept. 20. Riders can choose from 32, 67 or 102-mile routes, which will take in the scenic sights of Dorena and Cottage Grove Lakes, as well as Cottage Grove's covered bridges. The rides will start between 7 and 10 a.m. depending on the route. Riders will start and end at Bohemia Park.

Lane County has the largest collection of covered bridges west of the Mississippi and Cottage Grove has the largest concentration of bridges in the county. Out of more than 600 Oregon covered bridges, which once spanned rivers and streams, 51 bridges remain. Lane County has 20 still standing.

For more information about the Oregon Covered Bridge Festival, contact Judd Van Gorder at 541-942-0046 or visit www.EugeneCascadesCoast.org/bridges for a complete schedule of events. For vendor information, contact Lorraine Eriksen at 541-915-0883 or oregoncoveredbridge@aol.com .

For high-resolution images of covered bridges, contact Lisa Lawton at Lisa@EugeneCascadesCoast.org or 541-743-8762.

The Oregon Covered Bridge Festival is planned and hosted each year by a dedicated group of volunteers whose mission is to give Oregonians and visitors an opportunity to learn about and celebrate the history and unique cultural role Oregon's Covered Bridges have played in the state's history.